Vroom Vroom

Every year toward the end of May, a little color comes to Springfield. The Hot Rods come to town for their big get together. I'm not a car person, I think of them as a way to get from here to there and not much more, but even I have to smile at the bright colored old timers and the fancy paint jobs.


It feels a little like a movie set as we drive down the street and see bright red, yellow and blue cars from by gone days pull up beside us at a light, or meet them in a parking lot of a restaurant.



There are old time trucks, too







Flames seem to be a very popular theme.











Some have their own little matching trailers to make up for the lack of trunk space.


Some look like they forgot to finish them.






There are also some that are a little more subtle.




A lot of these cars look mighty uncomfortable to ride around in. Here's my favorite.

Look at those headlights.


It has this cute little trunk on the back.


OK, so I'm a material girl. If I have to ride around in an uncomfortable old car, make mine a Rolls Royce.

Shall We Dance?

Most of the time when we go outside to play the whole pack goes together. I try each day to get some of the dogs out individually or in pairs. That way we can have quiet times, work on obedience lessons, play a game with a shyer dog, and I get a chance to observe their physical condition and behavior. It's also a great bonding experience.

Yesterday I was taking our blue bandana pictures. For those of you who I haven't contacted yet, on or around June 10 we want to post pictures of our dog friends wearing blue bandanas. If you'd like to join us, please take a picture of your dog wearing a blue bandana and email it to me. If you have more than one dog, you can take individual pictures or group shots, whichever is easier. Be sure to tell me the name of each dog in the pictures so I can post them all.

We have already gotten some pictures in and they are great. The posed shots are top quality, but we've also had some out takes that are hilarious. I think we'll need to do a second post showing them.

Yesterday we decided to do our bandana shots. I did them two dogs at a time and they were pretty funny. The dogs seemed to think it was some special occasion and acted silly. When I took Samba and Fudge into the yard, they were so happy that they did a dance. I managed to get it all in pictures.


First the conversation about this bandana event.


Next the play bow or is it an invitation to dance?.


Look at Fudge's face in this one.










They separate and come together again.





Check this out! All eight feet in the air!


Back off again.




Fudge is off the ground in this one.




Spin around.


Up in the air again!









OK, dance over.


This was all done pretty silently, just a few yips now and then. Samba gave the original signal to start and she decided when it was over. I think I should set it to music. She lived up to her name Boo's Legacy Samba Dancer.

Norma Jean Goes Fishing

Portuguese Water Dogs were used on the fishing boats to carry out various tasks. One of their jobs was to herd fish into the nets. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny, warm (not hot or humid) day, so Rob turned the hose on to fill the wading pool.



Norma Jean was one of the first ones in the pool.



She likes the spray.



Everyone else had to come see what she was doing.



She paddles in the water. We say she's looking for fish.



She starts paddling faster.



She's very focused on her task.



The others are quite interested in the splashing.





One of the others wants to play, too.







Hey, where did everyone go?


Oh well, let's get back to work.



She would stop and look around, then go back to fishing.









The only way to stop her was to tip the water out of the pool.



Well, what do you expect? I'm a water dog.